No Need for the Fourth of July
by Washu-chan1
Summary: 7th episode of the holiday saga. Tenchi and the girls take a vacation to America for the Fourth of July


No Need for the Fourth of July   
The 7th episode of the Tenchi Holiday Saga!!!!   


Author's Note -- I know I've been slacking on my holiday fics! But, if you read my Tenchi Wonderful Life Special (which will be coming out shortly!), you'll see that I put a lot of effort into that. But anyway, I don't own Tenchi Muyo or any of that jolly good stuff.   
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


On with the show!   
  
  
  
  
  


"This is going to be so much fun!" Sasami said excitedly. 

Sasami placed several different objects, including a few mangas and some tioletry items, into a small overnight bag and zipped it up. She gathered together her suitcases and pulled them one by one into the living room, where everyone else, besides Washu, was standing. 

Kiyone wiped the sweat from her forehead. "I'm so glad that Katherine invited us to her family get together in America!" 

"Yes, me too Miss Kiyone." Aeka agreed. "What holiday did she say it was again?" 

"Let me think a second. It has been since our New Year's Party that she told me......oh! Its the Fourth of July!" 

"What holiday is that?" Mihoshi asked dimly. Looking up as though the ceiling would tell her the answer. 

"Katherine said that The Fourth of July is the day America celebrates their independence." 

"What day is the Fourth of July?" 

Everyone fell over anime style at Mihoshi's question. 

"What? What did I say? Did I say something wrong?" Mihoshi asked, teary-eyed. 

No one answered her. 

"Look at all this luggage!" Washu exclaimed, walking empty-handed into the room, her right hand balled into a tiny fist. 

"Where's your luggage Little Washu?" Tenchi asked. 

"In here." Washu uncurled her fingers to reveal three tiny suitcases, sitting petitely in the palm of her hand. 

"My new shrinking device can shrink our luggage to a much more convenient size for our trip!" 

"Ooooooh! Cool Washu! Shrink mine! Shrink mine! Pleeeeeeeease?" Mihoshi squeaked. 

A chance to show off her new creation was what Little Washu had hoped for. She gave everyone a gleeful grin. "Okay.......here goes!" Washu pulled a small remote out of a dimensional pocket. She then pressed a small button on the remote. A beam of light shot out and made its course towards Mihoshi's luggage. 

The moment the suitcases were touched by the light, they shrunk from sight. Washu walked over, picked up the pocket-sized luggage and sealed it safely in a dimensional pocket. 

"Voila!" Washu said, holding her hands in a peace sign and winking. 

"It worked!" Ryoko said. 

"Don't sound so surprised." Washu muttered. 

"This is going to make the trip so much easier!" Kiyone said, hoping to lighten the mood a little. 

Washu pressed the button again and again and proceeded to shrink everyone else's luggage. When she was done, the room was much less cramped. 

Diiiiiiiiing Dooooong! 

"That's the door, I'll get it!" Ryoko said, making her way towards the door and opening it. 

"Ryoko!" 

"Katherine! Come on in!" 

Katherine stepped inside. She was a tall brunette who had come to Japan through the Foreign Exchange Program. Tenchi had invited her to the New Years Eve party, where she had become good friends with Kiyone and eventually got to know the whole group. She had invited them to her Fourth of July family reunion in America so they could have their first glimpse of her country. 

"Hello everyone! How are you guys?" Katherine pulled Kiyone into a brief hug before looking around in confusion. "Um....where is all of your luggage?" she asked, scratching the side of her head. 

"In here!" Washu proudly patted the air around her head. "I shrunk every suitcase and put them in this dimensional pocket." 

"I see.....um.....Little Washu?" 

"Yes?" 

"People in America might um...be a little freaked out by your literally out of this world technology. There are no mad scientists from space there. You might start a panic." 

"Oh how boring! How could a cute little genius like me start a panic?" 

Washu A and B popped out and stood on Washu shoulders. 

"Washu is a genius!" A informed them. 

"A very cute genius!" B added. 

A sweat drop appeared on Katherine's forehead. I don't think they'll be able to come either." 

Washu looked fondly at the two tiny mirror images of herself. "I won't let anyone see them...." she looked at Katherine pleadingly. "I must take them! They are my biggest fans!" 

"Okay okay fine." 

"Well, I suppose I had better enlarge everything then!" 

Washu played a few switches on the shrinking device and pressed the familiar red button.   
Everybody's luggage appeared in the spots they originally were. 

"Okay guys, are you ready?" 

"Yeah!" Everyone shouted in an enthusiastic tone of unison. 

"Then let's go!" 

Everyone grabbed their luggage and headed out the door. Washu blew a giddy kiss to her subspace lab. Tenchi took one last, fond look at the familiarity of his house before shutting the door behind him. 

"It takes about an hour and a half to drive to the airport." Katherine explained as she led them to the edge of the lake, where three taxis were waiting. "I rented three taxis to get us there. We just need to figure out who is sitting with who......very quickly." 

"I want to sit with Tenchi!" 

"No *I* want to sit with Tenchi!" 

"I want to sit next to Kiyone!" 

"Myaw!" 

"Okay, calm down." Katherine said smiling. "Here's the deal: Tenchi, Ryoko, and Aeka will be in taxi 1..." 

"Yes!" Ryoko and Aeka declared in unison, glaring at eachother all the while. 

"No!" Tenchi gulped. 

"In taxi 2," Katherine continued. "Will be Washu, Sasami, and Ryo-oh-ki." 

Washu slapped Sasami a high-five. 

"Myaw!" Ryo-oh-ki cheered. 

"That leaves Kiyone, Mihoshi, and I to taxi three." 

"Yay!" Mihoshi mused, jumping up and down. 

At least Katherine will be there with me.> Kiyone thought miserably. 

The group rushed forward to the taxis.   
  
  
  
  
  
  


Ryoko slid into one of the taxis and shut the door. Sitting beside her, in the middle, was Tenchi. On Tenchi's right side, was Aeka. 

Ryoko put her hand on Tenchi's knee and rubbed his leg lovingly. "Oh Tenchi, this vacation is going to be so much fun for us! It is just what we need!" 

Aeka snorted, but quickly covered it up with a girlish giggle. She took Tenchi's hand in her own and leaned against him, laying her head on his shoulder. 

"The scenery is so beautiful....isn't it Lord Tenchi?" 

"Um...yeah....I guess so." 

"I've got plenty of scenery right here." Ryoko grasped Tenchi's upper arm and pulled him towards her, which caused Aeka to fall over. Ryoko stifled a laugh. 

"Grrrrrrrr...." Aeka reached over and punched Ryoko as hard as she could. 

"Oh that really hurt princess!" Ryoko said sarcastically, stressing the word "princess". 

I hope we get there soon......> Tenchi prayed, though it was only ten minutes into the drive.   
  
  


"I'm so excited Washu!" Sasami said, patting 

Ryo-oh-ki on the head with the palm of her hand. 

"I know me too. The only thing is that America must be so boring without scientist like me! I'm going to have to set up a secret lab in the hotel." 

"You're going to give those Americans quite a scare Miss Washu." 

Washu smiled. "Just the right job for a scientific genius!"   
  
  
  
  
  


"We're there!" Katherine said excitedly, talking to no one in particular. 

Mihoshi peered eagerly out of the taxi window, her eyes gleaming. 

The taxis pulled into the airport one by one; Katherine's taxi was in the lead. Everyone climbed out and unloaded their stuff. Happy to be able to stand up, they stretched their leg muscles. 

"I'm glad we're here." said a relieved Tenchi, yawning. It had been quite a ride up, considering he had to spend over an hour crammed in between Ryoko and Aeka. 

"If I'm correct, we should have exactly another hour before we board the plane." 

A loudspeaker flickered on. "Flight 25 is now boarding. Again.....Flight 25 is now boarding. All passengers of Flight 25.....we are now boarding." 

"Isn't that us?" Sasami asked in a swirl of confusion. 

"Oh my God, it is! My watch must be an hour off! Let's go!" 

Everyone grabbed their luggage and sprinted as fast as they could toward where they needed to board the plane. 

After going through tons and tons of security measures, they were finally comfortably on the plane. Tenchi, who had somehow concocted a fear of planes, was nervous. 

"Tenchi, this can't be half as bad as flying in space." Sasami said. 

"How did you know I was nervous." 

Sasami pointed to his hands and Tenchi noticed that he had them clenched on the edge of his seat. His knuckles were turning white. He released the seat. 

"Flight on Ryo-oh-ki or Ryu-oh *is* much smoother." Washu pointed out. 

"That really helped Washu." Tenchi said inaudibly. 

Tenchi had made a point of sitting next to Sasami. She was easily one of the most sane (if there are any more sane people) of the Masaki family. 

"So......Katherine......tells us more about this holiday." Kiyone said. 

Everyone quited to listen to Katherine. 

"Story!" Mihoshi exclaimed loudly. 

"Shhhhh!" Everyone in coach said in unison. 

"Anyway," Katherine laughed, but quickly turned very serious. "To put it in a nutshell, years and years ago, America was controlled by Great Britain......" And with that, Katherine went into a full reanactment of America's quest for Independence. Soon, the whole plane was listening. 

The whole plane clapped when she was done. Katherine, being the fun-loving person she was, stood up and bowed. 

When she sat back down, she said "You guys will love it in America. We'll have fireworks, and a cookout and...." 

"Myaw?" Ryo-oh-ki interrupted. 

"I think she wants to know if you'll have carrots there." Sasami translated. 

Katherine reached forward and rubbed Ryo-oh-ki's head. "I'm sure we'll have plenty of carrots there." Katherine reassured her. 

"And if they don't I'll just make you some!" Washu said in a matter of fact way. 

The conversation and chatter grew steady as the plane soared high above the land.   
Tenchi took the time to get some well deserved and much needed sleep. Ryoko and Aeka were actually being nice to eachother; They were preoccupied in a conversation on how space travel was much more exciting. Washu and Katherine were in a heated discussion about why most of the people in America would be "slightly" scared of her experiments. 

All in all, they were probably a pretty scary group to those fortunate strangers who had the privilege of sitting next to them.   
  
  


*Several Hours Later* 

Katherine yawned and stretched her legs after she exited the plane. It felt good to be home, on familiar turf. 

The airport was very convinient. The hotel was only fifteen minutes away, a short drive in a taxi was all they needed. 

When the taxis pulled into the hotel, everyone was grateful, but no one was ready to call it a night. For crying out loud, as tired as they were, it was only 8:00! 

It was a rather fancy hotel. Several sturdy stories caused the building to loom over them in the darkness. There was an arch over the double doors. Katherine had wanted her guests to see their first piece of America in style. She had booked four rooms in this grand hotel. To preventing future fighting, the rooms had been decided on the plane: Katherine, Kiyone, and Mihoshi were in the first, Sasami and Aeka were in the second, Washu and Ryoko were in the third, and Tenchi had the comfort of having the fourth room all to himself. He was greatly relieved. 

"Primitive." Washu remarked as she slid her room key into the slot (the wrong way). Ignoring the little red light, she tried to open the door. Getting frustrated at what she called "practically cavemen technology", she kept shoving the card into the door, but the door never came open. 

"Watch out Washu, I'll blast that door into oblivion!" Ryoko exclaimed defiantly, causing a couple in the hallway to stop and stare. 

Katherine came running over to them. She snatched the key from Washu and slid it into the slot. 

Upon seeing the green light, she opened the door and held it open until Washu and Ryoko were inside. She let it shut behind her. 

"You were sliding the key in the wrong way." Katherine said with her back to the door. 

"Oh, I knew that." Washu said in an unconvincing tone. 

"Well anyway, remember, Americans do not create energy balls or swords, so none of that." Katherine smiled. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to go inform Miss Aeka that if either Azaka or Kamidake show up tomorrow, we are screwed. Night girls!" 

"Goodnight Katherine." 

"Night!" 

Katherine walked over to Tenchi's door and knocked. "Tenchi, its me." 

"Come in." 

Katherine opened the door and took one step inside. She put her shoulder against the door so that it would stay open. "If you need anything, just call my room." 

"I will, thanks." 

"Get some sleep! Tomorrow is going to be a very big day!"   
  
  
  
  


Katherine woke up at half past nine o'clock in the morning with a start. She got up and stretched her arms high above her head. 

She walked outside and knocked on Sasami and Aeka's door. 

"Yes?" Aeka answered from inside, her voice hoarse from just waking up. 

"Time to get up! We have to leave in an hour." 

"Okay." 

Katherine continued on down the line of rooms until she had successfully woken everyone in her group up. When she was up and ready herself, she walked down to the gift shop to buy a large tote bag. She took it back to her room, where everyone had gathered, waiting for instructions. 

Katherine held up the tote bag. "Everyone needs to put their swimsuits, lotion, sunscreen, whatever in this bag. There is a pool where we are going, so we'll be swimming." 

"Yes!" Ryoko exclaimed, shooting a glance at Tenchi. 

Aeka laughed her high-pitched, shrill laugh. No one has sweeter skin than the crown princess!> she thought. 

Meanwhile, Ryoko was thinking of the millions of things she could do to embarrass Aeka at the pool. Everything stopped as they both started laughing. 

"Um.....okay....let's go!" 

Katherine had somehow arranged for them to have a van waiting outside of the hotel to take them to the family reunion. 

"You guys are all my guests," Katherine began. "That means please get along." she pleaded.   
Three halos appeared above Ryoko, Aeka, and even Washu's head. (Author's Note - I know that isn't possible, but I'm a fanfic author and I can write as I darn well please! ^_^) 

"Good." Katherine said. But when she looked away, all three halos were replaced with red horns and devilish grins. 

The house the van stopped at was magnificent. It was the biggest house Tenchi and the girls had ever seen! 

"This is my parents' house." Katherine told them. 

They all followed Katherine into the back yard, where what looked like hundreds of people had gathered. 

Tenchi could tell that these people lived and partied in style. They had a monster inground pool in their back yard. It looked like it could comfortably contain all of the guests there! There was a large tent over dozens of tables, surrounded by chairs. At the end of the tent was a small stage with a karoake machine and a large sound system. To the right of the pool, was a trampoline. There were children jumping from the trampoline into the pool. (Author's Note - Man, you wouldn't even believe how fun that can be sometimes!) 

A man and a woman rushed forward to Katherine. 

"Katie! I'm so glad you're home!" the man said. 

"Me too! I've missed you so much!" the woman said. "I see you brought guests!" 

"Yes mom, this is Tenchi, he is a friend from school..." 

"Hello Tenchi." Katherine's mom said. 

"Welcome." Tenchi assumed that it was Katherine's father who shook his hand. 

"And these are.......er......more of my school friends. Ryoko, Aeka, Mihoshi, Washu, Sasami, and Kiyone." 

"Welcome everyone!" 

"Everyone, this is my mom, Victoria, and my dad, Seth." 

The couple smiled. 

"If you don't mind guys, I'm going to show everyone where the bathroom is, so they can change into their swimsuits." 

"Go right ahead dear."   
  
  
  


Aeka stood poised on the trampoline, wearing her brand new purple tankini. She was about to jump. She bounced up and down a few times before executing a perfect midair flip. She was diving down into the water......closer......closer.....WHAM! She dove face first into a gigantic black flotation device. She struggled to get to a sitting position on the floaty. Ryoko was swimming nearby. "Ryoko! Grrrrrrr!" 

Aeka dove off of the floaty and swam to Ryoko. She grabbed her ankle and violently pulled her under. 

"You little.....I am gonna...." Ryoko started towards Aeka as fast as the water would let her. 

Aeka quickly started to swim away. She swam to the bottom of the twelve foot and held her breath for as long as she could. Little did she know, that when she came back up, Ryoko was waiting.....   
  
  
  
  


"Its time for the fireworks!" Katherine said happily. She beckoned for everyone to come over to the trampoline. "This is the best spot! There are no trees blocking the view!"   
Everyone clambored onto the trampoline and it sagged under their weight. "Its going to fall through!" Kiyone said. 

"I've got it!" Washu replied, not thinking. She whipped out her holo computer and typed a little bit. Suddenly, the trampoline raised up until it was parallel to the ground once more. The only problem was....it was twice as bouncy....no one could move, for fear of being thrown off into oblivion.   


"They're starting!" Mihoshi cheered. 

The fireworks were extravagant. Even Little Washu was overly impressed with the many shapes and colors. There was even one that read "God Bless America!!!!!". Everyone oohed and ahhhed at the dozens upon dozens of expensive fireworks. 

Too soon, it was time to go back to the hotel. 

"I had a wonderful time!" Sasami told Katherine upon going to bed. 

"I'm glad you did. We'll have to take more trips to America." 

"That we will."   
  
  
  


THE END 

I'm well aware that it was kinda short, but hey, its here and there will be more holiday fics on the way! 3   
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


  



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